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The report provides a comprehensive framework for negotiating international agreements on fossil fuel subsidies (FFS), detailing six key building blocks: objectives, scope, disciplines, carve-outs/exceptions, special and differential treatment (SDT), and enforcement. It analyzes various legal approaches, including those based on the WTO's Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures (SCM) and the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA), and highlights the Agreement on Climate Change, Trade and Sustainability (ACCTS) as a primary precedent for specific FFS disciplines.

The report argues that the traditional model of investment treaties, focused on protecting foreign investors through investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), is often ineffective and can obstruct climate action. It proposes a new framework where treaties serve as complementary tools to national laws, focusing on encouraging sustainable investment, ensuring corporate accountability for social and environmental impacts, and fostering international cooperation on issues like fossil fuel phase-outs and technology transfer.

The document outlines a comprehensive approach to mining governance, emphasizing the necessity of a robust legal framework for Environmental and Social Impact Assessments (ESIA) and Environmental and Social Management Plans (ESMP). It details the responsibilities of governments across five mining phases: prospecting, exploration, planning, construction/operation, and closure/post-mining transition. Key recommendations include ensuring legal consistency, mandating public participation and transparency, requiring financial guarantees for site restoration, and implementing strategic environmental assessments. The guide also provides practical tools for gap analysis and legal reform, while highlighting critical issues such as gender equality, indigenous rights, and the prevention of international investment disputes through clear, non-arbitrary regulatory processes.

The report argues that carefully designed investment contracts can bridge gaps in national legislation to ensure that large-scale agricultural investments in developing countries promote sustainable development. Drawing on research from UNCTAD and the World Bank, it identifies five key benefits—such as job creation and the integration of local farmers—and five primary risks, including land loss and poor environmental management. The document outlines a three-stage contractual process (preparation, negotiation, and monitoring) and provides specific legal options, such as 'satellite plantation' clauses and community development agreements, to ensure investors meet their social and environmental obligations.

The document analyzes the escalation of the Sinhalese-Tamil ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka from 1983 to 1986, focusing on the 'criminal fire'—reprisals and atrocities—committed by both government security forces and Tamil guerrillas. It argues that the conflict has evolved from social discrimination into an ethnic war where the conduct of armed forces actively reproduces the violence. The author proposes a two-step resolution process: first, the application of the Law of Armed Conflict and Human Rights Law to de-escalate military violence, followed by the use of human rights law to manage the political struggle. The report suggests international assistance from the UN, the Commonwealth, and the Red Cross, and advocates for radical reform of the Sri Lankan police and army to make them representative of both ethnic communities.